A major art theft from a museum was remarkable in that the pieces stolen clearly had been carefully selected. The cri...

Irina July 13, 2019

@Alex

Let's look at the passage.

A major art theft from a museum was remarkable in that the pieces stolen clearly had been carefully selected. The criterion for selection, however, clearly had not been greatest estimated market value. It follows that the theft was specifically carried out to suit the taste of some individual collector for whose private collection the pieces were destined.

The argument appeals to which one of the following principles.

To summarize it - the art pieces were carefully selected but not according to their market value, meaning the thieves have no intention to sell the art, but rather deliver them to an individual collector.

This is a strengthen question, which means we are looking for an answer choice that will strengthen the argument. The rest of the answer choices will either have no impact or weaken the argument.

Now, let's consider each of the answer choices.

(A) is irrelevant, it does not matter if the theft was committed at the direction of a single individual or at the direction of a group of individuals. We are only interested in the purpose of the theft.
(B) is also irrelevant. Nothing in the stimulus says the pattern defies rational analysis, in fact, the pieces were carefully selected just not according to their market value.
(C) supports the conclusion as the author concludes the type of art theft - destined for private collection - based on the pattern of works taken. This is the correct answer choice.
(D) undermines the argument. If this were true, it would imply that the thieves had no plan for the disposition of the stolen art, whereas the author argues that the theft was intended for a private collector.
(E) is irrelevant. Integrity of the collection is out of the scope here.

Let me know if this makes sense.